Rise of The Shadow King
by 7th Librarian
Summary: To a man who achieves the impossible, Lyrius Stormcloud has finally found something even he cannot surpass- What do you do when you have fulfilled all of your dreams? But destiny has waited eleven hundred years to have him in its grasp once again and now sets him upon his final fate. To forge himself a crown of swords and blood and raise a kingdom from the ashes. Or doom us all.
1. Prologue

Rise Of The Shadow King  
><span>By 7th Librarian<span>

A/N: _This story place in the shared 'Shadowchasers' universe created by and overseen by Cyber Commander, though it is not a true 'Shadowchaser' story despite several shared characters and locations. This story uses the March 2013 list, as it was born from ideas and plotlines that could not be fit into the story 'Knightfall'. Background in the Shadowchasers universe is not necessary to understand the story, but would be useful. This story is also a spin-off to Cyber Commander's story 'The Thousand-Year Door Redux'._

_For those interested in the Shadowchasers timeline, this story is set two years before 'Knightfall' and one year after 'Conspiracy'._

_Now submitted for your perusal, enjoyment, reviewing and questioning, I give unto you the following words:_

TTTTTTT

_Prologue: The Man Who History Forgot_

TTTTTTT

The grand double doors exploded inwards, smoke and light debris instantly billowing through the new-formed exit of the welcoming hall. Seconds later, men in emerged in fits of coughing and various states of bleeding injuries.

But they still checked their weapons, reloading magazines or discarding damaged ones to pull out rune-covered swords. Sweat and black ichor stained their blue uniforms, each man heaving with exhaustion and pain. Still they glanced at each other, nodding in reassurance as they took cover positions behind furniture and pillars. Weapons were cocked, the runes on the sword lit and their eyes were focused in near-fanatical determination.

They were loyal to Eric Chapelwhite to the utmost and even if they could not stop the man attacking the manor, they would hinder him for as long as they could even if they had to pile their bodies in front of the doors. They would not waver, no matter what

They did not waver even as several of their comrades came flying out of the smoke- their bodies bent and battered harshly with blood and gore escaping through the holes in their flesh.

They did not waver as there was a series of flashes of magic illuminating the cloud and then a horrendous sound of ice suddenly forming over something, followed by a sickening shattering noise.

They did not waver as from behind them, a lumbering beast plodded forward. It was like a tank had had a baby with a rhinoceros and then somehow a porcupine got added to the mix. Heavy, chitinous armor covered the hulking body and sleeks horns and spikes protruded from optimal places to catch attackers or victims. And over its back was some kind of pulsing, organic cannon that was already surging with pumping blood and the veins beginning to glow with eldtritch energy. Its mouth was a visage of hunger, sharp angled fangs and dripping saliva that hissed and sizzled.

The beast stomped into the fog and the battle without hesitating, each of its great steps displaying the confidence of a predator about to consume its prey.

There was several brief flashes of magic and then the mansion shook, the cloud glowing brightly as the beast apparently fired its cannon. And then a second time. And a third.

On the fourth shot, the noise of the cannon ceased abruptly and with a violent squelching.

Bestial roars echoed and the mansion floor rumbled as the beast suddenly broke into a run.

A few more roars echoed, followed by a shriek of pain.

The men did not waver as the beast's body stumbled back into grand hallway...minus its head and with a hole punched out where its heart probably would have been.

The men did not waver as a figure emerged from the smoke and stepped over the beast almost casually. The figure was a man, his neat black clothing only soaked with blood despite the constant fighting he had been doing. Crystalline black hair hung half-way down his back, somehow retaining ragged wild appearance despite all of the blood. His face was blank, a picture of calm focus.

The men did not waver, but felt the beginnings trembling in their bodies as the man's cold obsidian eyes swept over them in turn.

The men found the trembling grew worse as he spoke with a cultured voice heavy with blood thirst and Arctic fury. "Where is she?"

The men found themselves trembling, but drew upon themselves and steadied their guns as they brought the man into their sights. Those with swords gripped their weapons tightly and their runes burned even brighter.

The man studied them all for a second longer, before lifting one of the blades he held and revealing that shadows were being pulled towards it like a magnet, the weapon shrieking as it shook with the barely contained power.

Then it dropped and the man spoke a word. _"Mugetsu."_

And the men finally wavered and broke. But there was no where to run from the all-consuming, all-cold wave of blackness that devoured them.

TTTTTTT

There was a noise of mild curiosity as a goatee d man in a stained labcoat watched the wave of blackness consume his men and then the security camera in a split second. "Amazing...even without _Oblivion, _he still retains that amazing technique of his..."

The speaker stepped back a bit from his close view of the now static camera image, his pale features illuminated garishly in the vague blue light was pouring from bank of TVs in front of him. A good number of them were static, but most of those that remained active showed the bodies of his men, his golems and other magical creations that were ruthlessly and neatly torn apart. "And he's though he's not the Sword, anymore, it doesn't seem to have made him any less resilient or powerful...even your brand new living tanks only slowed him a bit more than the rest, Mister Monster."

"Setting aside a title does not remove a god's influence upon you." A second man spoke up from nearby where he was studying a vertical tank. His labcoat was pristine white and his voice a polite, even one. With the pair of wire-frame spectacles and generic face, he could have been every would-be college chemistry professor ever.

Save for the fact, behind those glasses, were the sullied eyes of a genius so great it was mad and a soul so empty it had caved in on itself.

"Are you saying that St. Cuthbert is aiding him still?" The first man asked, his tone gaining a touch of worry. "Countering mortal works is one thing, but godly power..."

"Idle comment of fact, fact of which is not applicable here and now." Mister Monster replied without glancing over his shoulder. Instead, his gaze was focused on the two pieces of a sword that floated in magical light in the tank. A sword of black metal not of this word, a sword so dark it simply seemed to eradicate the light that touched it rather than absorb or reflect. "_Oblivion_ is not responding. Increase power, Chapelwhite.

"I cannot- much of it is still being applied to the mansion's defenses. We still are not ready and he has to be slowed. Do you have anymore creations to send out, Monster?"

"No." This time, his voice carried a touch of irritation. "Status of the Forge? Ready?"

"Yes, thankfully. We were good to charge it the first chance we had." Chapelwhite tore his gaze from the monitor bank and stepped down from the dais it was on towards a second massive tank. This one was filled with curious light- it was comprised masses of teal and opalescent clear masses. The two lights swirled and bobbed around one another like a lava lamp and occasionally, sparks of vibrantly colored energy would pulse between them. "Rather clever to use liquefied Orichalcos stones as a stabilizing agent for the _chyrsmantheum_. But where on Earth did you even acquire some of that material? I didn't even think it existed..."

"Not on Earth." Monster's expression twitched faintly as there was sounds of struggle and restraints being tugged to their limits. "The Steel is conscious. Tranquilizers."

"No!" Chapelwhite seized Monster's arm as the other scientist lifted it and a fingernail extended. "She cannot have anymore foreign substances in her body, benign or not. Especially if they are magical in any way. We cannot risk contaminating her soul!'

Monster merely lowered his arm and the fingernail retracted. "Correct. Research past event horizon. Scratch start impossible."

"Thank you." Chapelwhite let out a quiet sigh as Monster turned and stalked backwards to where _Oblivion's _piece was. The magical scientist turned towards their 'Steel'. "I know you don't like it, but please try to bear with us. You _are_ going to be part of something incredible, you know."

The death glare the blonde was giving him was enough so that it was a wonder he wasn't already on fire.

"I'm not going to lie, it will very painful, but you will not die. In fact, I do believe that you will be better when the process is over. You see, _Oblivion_ was forged with blood magic and Abyssal stuff that wove the blood of both of its forgers into it, linking them both to the sword and via the sword, to each other." Chapelwhite laughed and shook his head. 'Sorry, why am I telling you a story you already know?"

The blonde gave out a string of what he presumed where snide threats, but were muffled by her gag.

"At any rate, we're going to replicate that process, Monster and I. So you'll be linked to the bearer and you'll never feel lonely ever again. That's something, isn't it? I mean, for a woman like you who is tied to one of the greatest powers of the modern age and has so much to live up to and live down and enemies at all sides, never feeling alone against all that has got to be good?" Chapelwhite gave her a smile.

At one time, she had found that smile reassuring. Now she found it disgusting and indicated with this a rather nasty glare.

"But it's going to be so much more, too. This is a new branch of magic, right here, right now. An ability to forge the soul _itself_ into a weapon. And its not just using it as a power source or turning it into some kind Duel Monster, but the very soul of a living being. The most indescribable thing, the most elusive piece of all of our lives and so grand and majestic that Heaven and Hell wage a _war_ to get them. Think of that, think of the amazing thing you're going to be part- no, that will be _part_ of you and the whole new world of magic you're going to open the doorway to! Your name will go down in history!"

There a moment, then Chapelwhite sheepishly added, "Well, more so than it already is, you understand. A new chapter and all that."

The woman just rolled her eyes at him.

He groaned at her. "Really now. You did _volunteer_. This isn't like I sprang this on you...I just didn't go into unnecessary detail. And yes, yes, I know its morally wrong and incorrect and 'evil'- here he put in air quotes- "And there's no need for a long tangent about how I know my research is right and everyone who ever doubted me will see the truth and such."

Chapelwhite straightened and smoothed out his coat confidently. "My research is groundbreaking and sometimes, to do that, you have to ignore the 'Keep off the grass' signs, as it were. I will say that the atomic bomb was something that changed history, but was nothing but a weapon of war and used only innocents. And yet, atomic power rose from it and so did research into the atom and from them, quarks and string theory and all the building blocks of our universe."

He chuckled a little, smiling in a relaxed fashion. "So whatever may happen to me, I'm content. For I will have started the ball rolling and the future will better for it. I know it deep in my bones and that, my dear, is why I've crossed the line. Because in doing so, I drug it with me and made the borders just that much wider, made our knowledge that much deeper."

He stroked her hair gently. "I am sorry for the pain you will have, but understanding _why_ helps, doesn't it?"

She glared all the harder and this time, added in a menacing growl.

"Ahh...I see." He tutted as he ran his through his hair again. "Emotions clouding your logic. Well, we're only human...or at least, I _am._ So I understand that emotional flux is natural and hard to control."

The lab shook and several loud explosions followed, prompting him to lift his gaze to the ceiling. "Lyrius seems to be pretty good at harnessing them without needing to control, though...now there's an idea...emotional turmoil converted to energy...like how we use adrenaline..."

"Chapelwhite." Monster caught the other man's attention and then pointed at the screens, which were currently showing Lyrius blasting holes in floors and walls. "Lyrius subverted defense. Coming."

"No, not yet!" Chapelwhite darted up the screens, his face in a hand. "Lyrius, blast you! Show some of that infinite patience you posses and just wait a little longer!"

"Situation worse. Shadowchasers." Monster's words were punctuated by the point he gave one of the exterior cameras. A portal was opening and out of it swarmed a group of Shadowchaser and their allies. They burst through the ruined gate and entryway, slowing only when encountering resistance from the men and beasts that Lyrius had left alive or had simply avoided.

As they watched another tank-beast burst trough a wall to take a group by surprise, a figure in red armor met it head on. The two pushed against each other, then the figure apparently gave ground...except for the fact as the beast pushed him back, a sword drove into the tank-beast's eye. It flared with magic and then other eye exploded like a piece of popcorn while fire jutted out of the skull cavity. The beast dead, the figure glanced up at the camera to reveal a furious face that both scientists recognized. "Stormbringer."

"Dammit, its still too soon." Chapelwhite glanced down at the console in front of the monitor bank. "We have the reserves, so we can power enough defenses to stall one group, but not the other!"

"Stall Stormbringer party. Move main power into _Oblivion_ charge. Prepare sword decoding." Monster turned and strode for the lab's door with a brisk flap of his labcoat. "Lyrius mine. Capture facilitate experiment acceleration."

"Yes, of course...of course, that will work!" Chapelwhite hastened to comply, watching as suddenly the manor's doors began to glimmer with force spells and electrically charged grates fell over windows. In other areas, suits of armor and statues rumbled to life while a few trees outside pulled themselves free from the dirt and began to crowd the exterior as they grew and intertwined. "Be careful, Monster! Lyrius is not a man to underestimate!"

"Neither are we." With that, Monster was out of the door.

Chapelwhite glanced at the screens and then turned around to gaze out at the massive experiment that was laid out before him and only a hair's breadth from completion. "Yes, yes..."

He stroked his goatee and smiled cheerfully. "I shouldn't underestimate myself, either. I'm going to make the magic _happen!_"

TTTTTTT

Mister Monster had no illusions about taking Lyrius by any kind of surprise or sneak attack. Such attempts were seen right through and the only time he had tried it, Lyrius countered before the sneak attack could even reach him.

So he was already bracing himself the moment he stepped out of a ruined door behind the man for a powerful sword strike.

He was still caught off-guard as Lyrius' spun, not to see who he was, but to unleash a _Mugetsu _without hesitating.

The blackness slammed into him and washed over him at the same time, shoving him back while Monster felt it dig into body, shredding his clothing to nothingness and corroding everything else. Slash wounds opened along his form, though they did not bleed due to the vacuum-like nature of the strike.

But he survived it and was already moving to fight, not surprised to see Lyrius' had charged not a moment behind his own attack. But the sword was not as strong and it simply scrapped off the ruined skin

Lyrius' follow-up blows with his free hand, however, were another matter and he landed several that cracked Monster's torso across its breadth.

At the same time, Monster retaliated with a perfectly executed Muy Thai combination that knocked Lyrius back and was swiftly followed up by a backhand that sent the human flying across the room.

Monster pointed at him in flight, his arm rippling as it volley out a series of quills like a machine gun. Lyrius twisted impossibly in the air, deflecting them or allowing them to scrap his skin instead of penetrate.

Without skipping a beat as Lyrius landed on his feet, Monster unleashed another volley of quills before sprinting after them as his fingers meshed together and extending into a sword-like shape. Lyrius swatted aside the quills and their blades collided with a howl that began to echo as they struck out again and again.

Monster hammered away relentlessly, attempting to drive Lyrius into a corner. But he was unsurprised as the human pushed _him_ back instead. Even as they fought, Monster willed his blade-arm to become less solid for a second and instantly re-solidified it as their weapons connected, trapping Lyrius' sword in his own. At the same time, his other arm came up. With an explosion of flesh, it morphed into a mass of tendrils that slithered around Lyrius with snake-like speed.

As they began to tighten around his form, Lyrius vanished into his shadow.

Monster let himself go limp with the snap-kick Lyrius landed on his head as the human burst out of the scientist's shadow, the blow hurling him away. He rolled and effortlessly pulled himself to his feet without using his arms. His sword arm writhed, morphing back into a hand with Lyrius' blade in his grasp. With a simple flex of his fingers, he shattered the weapon like cheap glass. "No sword. No _Mugetsu._"

Lyrius simply narrowed his eyes slightly before fading into his shadow. He seemingly reemerged right behind monster, but the scientist lashed out with an elbow that grew a jagged spike to pierce Lyrius' head...which passed through him like a mirage. A split second later, Lyrius slid free of the shadows nearby and a blow smashed into Monster's ribs.

Again and again the process repeated itself, Lyrius fading in and out of the shadows like he was one of them and Monster's impossibly fast counters sliding through the man's image like it was water. And Monster was beginning to feel some concern for this body. Bits of his corroded skin were flying off with each strike and each strike compounded the damage across his body, the fracturing fault lines spreading.

His skin crawled and then tendrils burst free to skewer all around him like a warped spider web so that Lyrius could not escape them completely.

But the man was already one step ahead, dropping out of a shadow on the ceiling upside-down and seizing Monster's shoulders. He spun like a corkscrew as he flipped the scientist over and hurled him away.

Dust exploded as Monster's out-of-control trip slammed him into the wall. He pulled himself free, uncaring that several large chunks of flesh were now gone from his torso and the upper-left quarter of his face was so heavily cracked that bits of it were dropping free as he moved. The liquid that passed for his blood did not pour from the wounds, but soaked across them slowly before hardening. "Victory near."

Lyrius knew what Monster meant by those words. He could feel fatigue on the edges of his senses, his body worn and exhausted from the earlier battles and the fact he had not stopped to rest or eat on his way to the mansion two days ago. No longer empowered by St. Cuthbert or wielding _Oblivion_, Lyrius only had his own strength to rely on. And despite the damage he had inflicted on Monster, the scientist felt no pain or fatigue of his own-he would fight as powerfully as he had from the first.

Monster knew all of this, knew that the odds were always increasing in the scientist's favor and that his proclamation of victory was not a boast, but fact.

And yet...

Monster also knew that Lyrius was something beyond his cold, rational logic and calculations, beyond his vast understanding of human limits and capabilities. There was no certainty when dealing with him.

Lyrius' tightened his stance, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Monster stared back, one of his arms erupting back into tendrils.

The floor cracked as Lyrius launched himself forwards impossibly fast.

Instantly, Monster's tendrils locked straight and volleyed a wave of quills from their tips, logic informing him that at the speed Lyrius was moving and his quills were moving, there would be no way to dodge.

Except somehow Lyrius sped up and vanished from sight.

There was only the explosive feeling of Lyrius' blow that told Monster the man had reappeared in a crouch, under Monster's guard and smashed a fist through his gut. Monster's reactions were a heartbeat later, tearing himself free of the fist while tendrils seized the entirety of a nearby bookshelf and brought it down upon Lyrius with enough force behind it that it could have damaged concrete.

Wood and paper erupted as Lyrius apparently felt no effect from the incredible blow despite fresh wounds opening on his boy. His hand tore through the debris and seized Monster's face like a vise. He squeezed and cracks spider-webbed their way over the scientist' flesh.

Then dark energy surged from Lyrius' palm and Monster knew that this body's usefulness was over.

TTTTTT

Chapelwhite watched in awe as the magic surged, coruscating over the fragments of _Oblivion_ in an amazing light show.

He watched as the light flared and crackled, zipping down towards the tank and along several thick cables into the Forge. As the new light met with the swirling masses of Orichalcos and _chyrsmantheum_, the two materials would pulse and wind together, as if they were attempting to fuse but only for it to fail at the last minute.

"It's incredible..." He breathed, hands clutching the railing in excitement. "_Oblivion_ was the correct template we needed...its is so much more than a sword...its an act of magic in and of itself..."

He watched the materials in the Forge attempt to bind a moment more and nodded to himself. "But without the Abyssal magic and divine blood, its impossible to forge a new weapon of the chrysanthemum...not without the proper bonding agent and the proper catalyst."

A few eager steps took him off the dais and to his 'Steel'. "That bonding agent is you, my dear...or more specifically, your soul."

Eyes narrowed at him in angry understanding.

"Your warrior bloodline, your half-human nature, all of it make your soul exceptional and will get the necessary response where ordinary ones failed." Chapelwhite did not look bothered when the eyes widened at him in surprise. "I'm a scientist, my dear. This is hardly my first foray into this new field of research, just the culmination of all of my previous attempts. I tried so many kinds of souls and nothing would work...even my own only generated mild results...and Monster, well, I think we can both agree that he traded his soul a long, long time ago."

The steel door to the lap crumpled under a powerful blow as Lyrius burst in. Without even slowing, he was already crossing the distance towards the scientist. "Release her, Chapelwhite!"

"And there's the catalyst..." Chapelwhite didn't even flinch as he turned towards Lyrius...because halfway there, the man was wrenched to the ground by a glowing black seal that hadn't been there a moment before. "Lyrius, please don't try to escape. That seal was designed specifically bind you and I don't want you hurting yourself anymore than you already have, my friend."

"Traitor." Lyrius countered, ignoring the warning as he attempted to force himself off his knees. The seal sparked dangerously in warning and when he continued to rise, actually making it to his feet, it knocked him down with a blast of lightning.

"Yes, yes I suppose I am..." Chapelwhite sighed. "I did steal _Oblivion_ from where you buried it with your wife's grave, send you on a wild goose chase half way across the planet and gain Mister Monster's aid in my research...ah, I guess if you're here and he's not, you destroyed him. Oh well, he'll just bring one of his other bodies around soon enough, I'm sure."

Lyrius' rose to a half-kneeling position, the seal crackling harshly over him and he gritted his teeth before forcing out the next words. "I wanted a sword...not...this..."

"I know, I know. You wanted to see if I could forge an equivalent weapon to _Oblivion_. And if I had devoted enough time to precisely that, I reasonably sure it would have been possible. But, Lyrius..." Chapelwhite rocked eagerly from foot to foot. "I found something so much better!"

He gestured broadly to the tanks and everything around them. "The Millennium Spellbook! The book you brought me for study! Written in languages from across thousands of years, it contains _secrets _of magic from across those millennial! I've barely scraped the surface of the depth of knowledge it hides...but it was enough to create all of this!"

Lyrius glared at him. "Souls..."

"Yes, souls! They are the greatest mystery in existence and yet, this book, its secrets-tell me how to shape them to specific form and functions. You said you and your beloved wife forged _Oblivion_ together with great magic and wove both your blood and bit of your soul into its creation! And it became a sword capable of rivaling great holy weapons like Excalibur! So imagine the possibilities if we went one step further and made a weapon out of an actual soul!"

Chapelwhite didn't seem phased that Lyrius' only response to him was to glare death in direction. "You don't understand...expected, but it still hurts some. You are my friend, after all..."

Turning away, he strode towards the Forge. "And you are also the catalyst. You see, a soul is an intangible thing-you cannot grasp it in and of itself, it has to be contained in some manner. I wish to use _chrysanthemum_ for this, but shaping it is a problem. _Her_ soul will become the weapon itself, chrysanthemumbeing the medium to give it physical presence The problem lies in the fact that, well, removing her soul will just leave her an empty shell and putting it all into the weapon would cause it to fly apart- some kind of rejection..."

He slid an eye back to Lyrius over his shoulder. "You, my friend, were the solution to this. By taking merely a portion of her soul to empower the weapon, your soul would be the catalyst to its _shape_. You are, after all, the strongest man alive and have had a life of naught by battle. What other shape could your soul take?"

Stepping away from the Forge's tank and to a large seal with a space in the center, he rolled up his sleeves. "That's such a vague explanation, but this _is_ an unknown field, so its the best I've got...for the moment."

Chapelwhite took a breath and let it out, obviously trying to steady himself. Lightning arced between his fingers and then he launched into the seal at his feet. It lit up instantly with a solid blue glow.

The seal around Lyrius erupted with lighting, lashing into him and he staggered and spasmed, somehow still able to try and tear himself free.

The tank holding _Oblivion's_ pieces surged with fresh power, lances of of it pouring down into the cables while the weapon itself began to tremble.

And still strapped down, the seal around her own body blazing to life with golden light, Judy LaBaron began to scream. Primal, deep and pained.

Chapelwhite flinched at this, but kept his flow of lightning steady. He bit his lip as he glanced between the template, the steel and the catalyst. All three were glowing and giving off energy...but not enough.

He increased the power of his lightning.

Lyrius was thrown to the floor, still fighting to get free despite the massive amounts of pain he had to be in.

_Oblivion _shuddered and its tank cracked slightly while the weapon itself began to glow with blackness.

Judy's screams somehow doubled and around her, silver light began to flow freely and gather at a point above her chest.

"Yes...that's it...!" Chapelwhite smiled at the sight. "It's working! It's pulling her soul from her body!"

He glanced at the Forge, which still only coruscated mild energy while the bits of Orichalcos and _chyrsmantheum_ continued their endless dance of attempted fusion and failure.

The lightning increased.

Judy screamed further, the light flowing from her becoming faster and steadier. The shape above her couldn't maintain itself, siphoned impossible through the air into the Forge.

_Oblivion_ somehow began to melt, bits of it sloughing off into energy that would race across the cables towards the Forge.

Lyrius' whole body seethed with a thick black energy, his struggles waning as it too was ribboned off him towards the Forge.

And the Forge itself began to live up its to its name. The two dancing materials suddenly ceased their movement as they finally meshed into a complete solid. Silver and black light phased through the glass to weave their way into the mass. The bits of _Oblivion_ would float up from the base, each touch sending a wave of black light along the length of the would-be sword.

And it was a sword. The mass shifted, warped and became something it hadn't been a moment before. A see-through sword of light, glittering with its own power. As the energies poured into it, the more solid and there it became.

"Incredible...incredible!" Chapelwhite stared hungrily at it.

"JUDY!"

The scientist snapped his head around just in time to see Jalal Stormbringer live up to his name and storm into the lab. Another tank beast was busy dying and distingrated by the Shadowchaser's magic, his armor stained with blood and eyes blazing. "No, Jalal! You can't disrupt the ritual! You'll ruin it and kill us all!"

Caught up in fury as intense and potent as Jalal's was, a lesser man would have ignored the scientist' warning and skewered the man on his sword.

But a thousand years of life had taught Jalal restraint even when he was on the edge. He took in the entire scene in barely a second and while he didn't grasp it all, he understood enough to know that Chapelwhite was telling the truth.

"Stormbringer...!"

Jalal's gaze snapped over to Lyrius, as did Chapelwhite's and the scientist looked a little slack-jawed as Lyrius finally managed to stand despite the seal blasting him endlessly with lighting and his own soul being slowly pulled out of his body. "Break my seal! It will halt the process!"

"No, you can't! I'm so close, so close! You mustn't!" But Chapelwhite's cries fell on deaf ears as Jalal instantly complied, smashing his flaming blade into the edge of the black seal. Light flared, then shot back along the seal's lines and it blew apart like glass.

Inside the Forge, the sword shape waned and waxed, smearing like a person wiping their hand across a fresh painting before it would weakly snap back into solid lines again.

"You don't know what you've done!" Chapelwhite's face twisted in anger and one hand tore itself free of empowering the ritual. Lighting roared and caught both Jalal and Lyrius like they were leaves in a hurricane. They smashed against the wall and collapsed to the ground, bodies twitching and spasming.

But it didn't stop them. Without even pausing to collect themselves, they hauled themselves back to their feet...and caught a fresh blast that pinned them to the wall this time.

Chapelwhite watched as the sword form wavered again and grit his teeth, his mind racing. "The process is nearly there...I have the shape, so the catalyst isn't need anymore..but its not complete yet. The chrysanthemumstill needs her soul to hold it together!"

He snapped his gaze towards Judy, who was still screaming and twisting as more bits of her soul were pulled from her body. "Its already mostly there...it just needs more soul, faster than the current rate...I have to give it to the sword all at once!"

The lightning pinning Jalal and Lyrius to the wall ceased as Chapelwhite whipped it around towards Judy. Her screams intensified in agony as the lighting skittered over her body, her body twisting so much that a mortal human would have snapped their bones.

"NO!" Lyrius and Jalal rose as one, ignoring the near-lethal wounds on their bodies and charged. Jalal's flaming sword and Lyrius' magic-enhanced blows slammed against the seal around Chapelwhite. But the seal refused to yield, instead lashing back with equal force and hurling them away.

Metal bent and crumpled around their forms, but they both tore themselves free without a moment's thought. Jalal glanced as his sword, which was now warped uselessly and tossed it aside in disgust. "Plan?"

Lyrius ignored the fact his left arm was now heavily charred and cracked. "Save Judy. I will end him."

Chapelwhite watched with mounting awe at the sword form, strengthened by Judy's soul now pouring into it and the melted _Oblivion_ marbled along its length like delicate brush work. Every second that passed gave it more shape, more definition and with every second, it was more beautiful. "Marvelous...marvelous!"

Then the soul flow waned and he gasped as the sword form began to smear like bad paintwork again. "No!"

He snapped his head and saw two things.

Jalal had interposed himself between the lightning and Judy. It drove him to his knees, but no further as he took the full brunt of it. His teeth gritted in pain, face a mask of concentration.

Lyrius smashed through _Oblivion_'s tank and seized the hilt of the broken weapon, reversed it in his grasp and hurled it like a spear.

_Oblivion_ slid through the barrier Ike it wasn't there and caught Chapelwhite through the chest with such force that it picked him up off his feet and pinned him into the Forge. He gurgled, blood pouring from his mouth as his lightning skittered and danced over himself and the tank. The glass shattered, the mass of semi-solid burying him as electricity weakly skittered over it before falling silent.

Lyrius limped his way over to where Judy was, his mind already assessing the extent of her injuries and damage. "She is still breathing."

"Yes. She lives." Jalal could not keep the relief from his voice as silvery light of her soul faded back into her body. He was already tearing the straps binding her apart. "We have to get out of here. I already put a call into Adrian-he should be able to heal the damage and make sure she's not-"

Both men sensed it the moment before it actually happened. The mass covering Chapelwhite was torn apart as the man somehow got his feet. His appearance was like a half-melted wax candle, but there was no denying the blazing light in his eyes.

Or the fact that he impossibly held the sword form in one hand and _Oblivion_'s fragment in the other. "This experiment...isn't over!"

He swung the sword form down, a blazing wave of light shooting free. Jalal shoved Judy into Lyrius' arms and crossed his own as he stepped in front of them. The light plowed into him, his whole body shaking and armor creaking. Then the light exploded, hurling them all back.

Lyrius cradled Judy protectively as he was slammed against the wall, head spinning. He ignored the disorientation in favor of trying to put the situation together.

The attack had carved up a path along the metal floor, Jalal having been thrown over the table restraining Judy and the table itself bent and twisted around him. But he had blunted the force of the attack.

Not that it stopped Chapelwhite. He was suddenly looming over Lyrius, his half-melted body moving with energy only the manic possessed. The sharp electric-blue of his eyes eerily reflected the soft silver light of the sword from as he raised it up. "The sword...so close to completion..it howls for its parents to complete its birth...the first of a new era...it knows its place. Can you hear it?"

Lyrius could. The blade was almost keening, the light of Judy's soul marbled with the black of his own and then two swirled and slid around each other like a Rorschach test.

He could also feel the negative energy permeating the weapon, the obsessiveness that could have only come from when it was exposed to Chapelwhite. A taint that was as deeply mixed as the rest of it. "Eric...do not..."

"I will." The man's face flickered and for a moment, the kind face of the energetic scientist was there with a smile. "Thank you for your help, Lyrius, Judy. Truly, I thank you."

Then he stabbed the blade down, the tip sliding through Judy's body like it was nothing and into his own. Lyrius gasped at the harsh, cold sensation that spread throughout his body.

As he watched bits of his soul and Judy's pulled from their bodies into the weapon, a small part of his mind informed him that he felt no physical pain because the sword was made from his soul and so it couldn't hurt him.

The rest of him told him Chapelwhite was going to suck them both dry.

Then it told him Judy was awake and had seized the blade with one hand desperately. And was somehow pouring energy into it.

Lyrius seized the weapon as well, his hand over hers and he grit his teeth as pain thundered through his body as he took what the weapon was taking from him and doubled it, tripled it and rammed it down the sword's metaphorical throat.

Chapelwhite's smile faded as he saw the energies around the sword shriek to a life of their own, blazing like fire. The weapon itself began to vibrate, shudder and finally, crack. "No...no...stop it! Its not tempered yet! You'll break it!"

That is exactly what happened.

The sword exploded with soundless light, fragmenting into nothingness. Chapelwhite was hurled away, smashing into the monitor bank and disappearing from view as it crumpled around him. Lyrius felt a heavy pain suffuse itself to his very bones, his head pounding so hard it might have been the next thing to explode.

He sucked it up, though. "Judy..."

"Alive..." Her voice was weak, scratchy, but there.

"Good." With that, Lyrius finally let blackness overtake him.

TTTTTT

"She's going to recover just fine." Slender fingers wrap themselves around a large mug and raise it, the speaker taking a deep, pleased sniff of the almost boiling liquid in it. "Oh, you have no idea how good it is to actual proper Earl Grey tea...Adrian may be a master of all magic, but tea somehow escapes him..."

"Are you sure, Mei?" Jalal, Lyrius and the aforementioned Mei were seated around a small table. All had mugs of liquid in front of them, though Mei was the only drinking hers. Jalal's was untouched in his worry and Lyrius had politely declined.

The half-dragon glanced at the monitor that displayed an image of Judy's room. His ward was fast asleep under the blankets, curled up in a ball. Most of her injuries were superficial and easily healed, but the toll on her had been high anyway and she had succumbed to exhaustion easily. Mei had confirmed what his staff had told him- Judy merely needed plenty of rest and her injuries from the event would heal fine. She would bear a couple of scars, but that was it.

But even Mei hadn't been so sure about the other affects the experience had had. Like the fact Judy's hair had gained the color of the best melted silver or her pupils had become narrow and slitted while their color had become a bright platinum. She had even developed a small pair of fangs.

Jalal returned his attention to the blonde across the table. "I know they look to be mostly cosmetic changes, but I've never heard of anything like this..."

"Mmmm...I wouldn't worry. Most likely, given what you told me, Judy's soul is a bit 'charred' right now." Mei took a long drink of her tea and sighed contentedly. "That's the good stuff..."

"Charred?" Lyrius actually looked worse than Judy did, bandages wrapped around his entire left arm. His shirt had to be removed to apply more bandages across his torso and shoulders. Still, his black eyes were as strong as ever.

"Mmmhmm...that Chapelwhite guy was extracting her soul and trying to combine with a bunch of other volatile magical things, including another soul. The soul is something beyond magic, almost like a piece of the universe and please don't ask me to explain it more than that because I really can't- Adrian's explanations make my head spin." Mei winced at the memories and took another steadying drink of tea. "Anyway, what happened is that the reaction caused by the attempted mixing burned off the excess of her soul."

Jalal frowned at her.

"Oh, oh, don't worry!" Mei waved his concerned expression down. "It's not anything harmful or permanent. You can compare to burning the hair off your arms-it tends to regrow. Judy's a half-human/half- steel dragon, right? It looks like the charring just took off some of the human stuff off. She'll be more dragonish for a few months and have killer hair, but it'll pass."

Lyrius regarded with a slightly raised eyebrow. "That sounds much too logical and implausible at the same time."

Mei shrugged. "I know, but you're dealing with experimental magic and souls, so logic grabbed the laws of physics and went off to cry in a corner after losing a hand to magic in a poker game."

Jalal's eyebrow rose in a manner similar to Lyrius'.

"It sounded good in my head..." Mei muttered into her mug and then glanced at Lyrius. "Here, let me see your wounded arm."

Lyrius extended it out for her and she held out her own, white and blue flames washing gently from her palm over it. As she slid her hand down the limb's length, the flames burned away the bandages and left only clean and unbroken skin with no trace of wounds. "There, see?"

Jalal stared at the healed arm curiously. "I'm afraid I don't follow."

"It's like this- trying to stick Judy's together with a bunch of other things like some kind of magical Play-Doh didn't work out well. Everything was made of a different kind of material and they burned each other from the friction. Judy's soul merely burnt away the damaged bits, which is why she looks more dragon-y than usual because that's the bigger influence that's left. Her soul wasn't cauterized, the bad bits were burnt away so new ones could regrow."

"And this relates to the healing of my arm...how?" Lyrius asked politely.

"Umm...hmmmm..." Mei took a drink of her tea to hide a sheepish grin. "No idea...Adrian is better at explaining things like this."

"Yes, but I get the gist of it. Thank you for coming, Mei." Jalal shot the screen another glance and then finally took a drink of his tea. "You've removed a lot of my worry."

"Always happen to help and Judy's a good kid. Good watching my kids." Mei finished off her tea and stood. "I need to go, though. Gentlemen, it's been a pleasure."

"You and your family are always welcome here, Mei."

Lyrius merely nodded his thanks at her.

"Ta." With a wave, Mei stepped through a door that hadn't been in the center of the room a moment before and as it clicked shut bend her, it vanished as silently as it had come.

There was a period of companionable silence between the two men, then Lyrius let out a small breath. "I am sorry, Stormbringer."

"Don't be, Lyrius. I trusted Chapelwhite with the Spellbook, too. I've known him longer than you have and I never even expected anything like this to happen. He was always eager and energetic, but he knew where the lines were." Jalal leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

"Yes, but my desire for a sword..."

"Was not a wrong one. It still isn't it." Jalal said, cutting him off. "We are too old to be burdened by unnecessary guilt like this, Lyrius. You especially."

The leader of the Shadowchasers gave the other man a piercing look. "What is on your mind?"

Lyrius was silent, then he stood and shook his head. "Questions that I feel you cannot answer, my friend. I have to discover solutions to eternity on my own."

Jalal nodded in understanding. "...yes, I know. But I would help you if I could."

"You have done enough for me, Stormbringer." Lyrius shot a glance at the screen and the figure lying in the bed. "It is I who have a debt to repay now."

Jalal knew better to argue against that point, that Lyrius had done more than enough by attempting to rescue Judy like he had. And that was only the tip of the iceberg. In the two decades since the two had re-encountered one another, Lyrius had gone above and beyond his call as Sword of St. Cuthbert as a habit.

But if Lyrius felt he had a debt, then he had a debt and no force on heaven or earth could move him. "Chapelwhite somehow survived and escaped his lab with the Spellbook. If we hear anything, we'll let you know."

"Call upon me if you have need." Lyrius paused in the doorway. "When Judy is well enough, send her to me. I owe her an apology."

"I will." Jalal promised and watched the other man leave before taking a drink of his tea. "A thousand years a knight...and here I thought I was the only one."

TTTTTTT

Lyrius walked through the woods surrounding the Shadowchaser HQ at a steady pace, a battered duster slung over his shoulder instead of worn so as not to aggravate his wounds.

He could have grabbed a portal closer to his home, but Mundane travel held one advantage over magical and that was it gave one time to think.

And he had much to think about, though one thought always was above the rest.

_Where do I go from here_?

He had been grappling with the question for nearly three years and still had no answer.

What does one do with their life when they've achieved their goals? A thousand years ago, he had been the Queen's Shadow and helped his beloved forge an Empire. He had sworn to give his life to protect and he had done it once, but _twice_. When she had been trapped in the Abyss for failing to live up to the pact she had made with Graz'zt, he had escaped and swore service to a god of justice so as to gain the power to free her.

And he had.

He had saved her soul, but not her body. A thousand years of patience and a decade and a half of constant battle and war had earned him two short years with her. Two short, but wonderful years with his beloved.

His mind flickered, dragging up the memory of their third-and last- parting. She did not linger as a ghost as he had the first time it had happened and there was no miracle gamble to take as there had been the on the second. For this, there had been nothing but a finality and certainty of the end.

As she had slipped away, she had never stopped smiling at him and used what strength she had left to ensure he had heard her final words.

"_I know you will never yield to despair or grief, but do not give up on love, either. You have given me so much off yourself, a thousand times over...you are happiest when you have a family, my beloved. So don't hide in my shadow any longer when I'm gone...make me happy one last time and find your own path..." _

His own path. Never had three simple words rattled him so.

He had lived his life for one goal and one goal only. And that goal was over now. He didn't know what came next. There was nothing he had done or experienced in the last three years that had caused a change, anything that had connected him or resonated. Would he have to walk the Earth another thousand years to find it?

There was another flicker in his mind, this time pulling up a memory of an encounter he had with Mei and her husband, Adrian the Librarian. The cat-eared man had been discussing with Lyrius how he had met with Iris over the last five hundred years to record her story of her rise and fall as the Shadow Queen from her perspective and how prominently Lyrius himself has featured in it.

Lyrius had made the comment that, hearing it from another perspective, made his life sound more incredible than he really thought it was.

The Librarian's reply had been one he hadn't expected.

"_It was incredible. You were meant for great things, but I don't think destiny ever expected to find you ignoring it and fulfilling those great things by becoming a hero solely to the Shadow Queen. I'd be on guard, if I were you. Destiny has a way of finding a way of making people fulfill its plans for them, no matter how long it has to wait..."_

Destiny...

Lyrius nearly laughed. He was quite certain that given how often he had rebelled against fate and the whims of the universe and succeeded through sheer tenacity, destiny wanted nothing to do with him.

It would only be later that he would admit how wrong he was about that.


	2. It's Dangerous To Go Alone- Take This

Rise of The Shadow King  
><span>By 7th Librarian<span>

Chapter 1:It's Dangerous To Go Alone-Take This

Home.

It was the penthouse suite of the Maygates Hotel, permanently on rent and ultimately displayed the mix of simplistic elegance of its owner. Wood flooring, blank walls, with only the basic furnishings of a high-quality oak table and five chairs. The only luxuries it actually had were extras in the sense they related to the man's job, not his home- a desk, a bookshelf and an easel. Spartan possessions.

A place one inhabited, but did not live in. 'Home' in the loosest sense of the word.

Lyrius entered and did not bother to flick on the light as he shut and locked the door behind him. Everything here was known to him. His feet traced a path they had many times before, carrying him to the kitchen counter as he shed his shirt and dropped it the waiting hamper.

A single red light seemed to hang in the middle of the air in the pitch black room, but blinked out with a 'beep!' as Lyrius tapped the answering machine's button.

"_You have _six_ new messages. Playing messages."_

-Beep- _"Lyrius, this is Lucky. I've got some information to pass your way. Looks up the Dueling Underworld is picking up again and someone's looking to be the new Hell Kaiser. We cleaned house last time, so why don't-"_

"_Message erased."_

-Beep- _"Hello. This is Marcia with Goodman Life Insurance-"_

_"Message erased."_

-Beep- This time, the message was entirely in Elvish and quite intense, dealing with Lyrius' paternage, its quality, the quality of Lyrius' bedroom capabilities and several unique ideas that should be done with a broom handle.

"_Message erased."_

-Beep- _"Lyrius, Fancuillo. The money has been put towards the charity you requested. Thanks for helping with that slaver ring edging on my territory. Sick bastards deserve everything they get, doing that to kids."_

-Beep- _"Mister Stormcloud, you astound me once again! Not since the days of Mister Pegasus has such art ever graced our cards! You simply must tell me where you get your inspiration from! I'm sure it must be something divine, give the sheer grace and majesty you draw with! I2 is lucky to work with you! And of course, I'll be more than happy to give you some of the early release cards! After all, you designed some of them-"_

"Message erased."

_-_Beep- _"Lyrius, its Mister Wately. Just making my quarterly check-in concerning your accounts and investments. All of them doing strong, per always. I sent you an e-mail with more detailed information, but its probably not anything you don't already know. If you wish do anything more with your money, feel free to call me, of course. I hope this message finds you well."_

"_Message erased."_

That completed, Lyrius shed the rest of his clothing and swept into the bathroom. A moment's time had hot water running and many years of the same patterns had made bathing a habit ingrained that he was not truly aware of actually doing it, his mind drifting a little.

Three days since leaving Shadowchasers HQ in Britain and three days to ponder a question he was beginning to think had no answer.

(_Am I to become a living ghost again? To move mindlessly amongst the world, existing only as a perpetual motion of routine without any purpose but to simply be?) _Water soaked into his hair, but even damp they failed to budge from the sleeked-back spiky form and he felt the defeated droplets sluice down his body. _(I am alive, but what does that mean? I have no desire for material things; they are transient and of no comfort. My wealth could be a tenth of what it is and still I would not run out if I lived another thousand years.)_

He could feel slight touch of cold that washed over his body as he turned off the water and pulled a fresh set of clothing from where it hung off a hook on the back of the bathroom door.

Dressed in the same black attire he had been, simply clean and pressed, he made his way into the living room and stood on the edge of the neat square the moonlight made as it beamed through his balcony window. Several options flitted through his mind, but they were things already considered many times over. (_To return to St. Cuthbert's service would simply leave me a tool for them to use, even if I prefer such a lifestyle. To be a Shadowchaser is not anything Jalal or I would prefer- I am too used to operating on my own too used to needing only my own judgment. Even if I were a Gotthammer and given autonomy, the only difference in my life now and what that would be is that Jalal would give me orders.)_

His eyes gazed briefly at the easel and art supplies in the corner. His artwork was something he could openly admit he enjoyed, but it was not the kind of job he could ever find truly challenging. _(When you do not require sleep and are immortal, patience and practice become busywork for spare time is all I have.) _

Even working for Industrial Illusions was a hobby despite how enjoyable it was. Ever since the tournament more than two decades ago, he had put forth much effort in mastering the game that seemed to dominate the world. His artwork had come to their attention several years after the Zero Reverse incident and the company was starting up the Maxamillion J. Pegasus. Foundation. Looking for artwork to commemorate their founder's love of painting and the game itself, it had been chance a sample Lyrius had created for a job he had been had crossed their paths.

And now he was one of the premier artist in the industry, even beyond Duel Monsters. RPG books, comics, book covers and more were graced with his artwork. All freelance, all submitted when he wished it and the money he was to get in turn passed along to those who could make better use of it than he could.

Yet, no matter beautiful his creation, no how masterful his brushstroke and no matter how much he inspired in others, it was just not fulfilling enough. _(I can paint for days on end, create a legacy that would bring smiles to people across the world here in the present and for many decades to come. To many that would be a worthy thing, to work solely for others benefit and inspire the best in others. But again, it is to an instrument in service to a will not my own...)_

He could not recall a time when he was not acting on his own in a way that simply benefited only him. Always in service to others, to their goals and dreams, their desires and freedoms, whether it be peace or war.

_(Even to free Iris from the Abyss was just as much as her as it was me...and I have done that...)_

And as it had before, his thoughts had come full circle back to the question.

What did he want?

Time, in so vast a quantity as he had, slipped away from him without him noticing as he thought and it wasn't until there was a soft knock at his door that he realized night had slipped into day.

One day, sliding into the next and all of them different, yet the same because he knew their content no matter what it was and the only change was simply the number on a calendar. But even that would cycle back to start all over again, to the point where hours, days, weeks and years simply slid together and were no different no matter how small you broke the pieces down...

Another soft knock and Lyrius shook his head, pulling his thoughts away from that path. (_I had enough of that when I was a ghost. No point or purpose in exploring a place you wrote the map for.)_

There was a third knock and Lyrius moved over to the door, flicking on the lights as courtesy for his potential guest before opening it. "Yes?"

Standing on the other side was a middle-aged woman who slight touches of gray at the temples of her blonde hair. She peered at him with blue-eyes over the top of a pair of high-quality sunglasses with a playfully surprised look. "You need to get a cell phone."

"I have a phone already." Lyrius said, but wasn't surprised as the woman shoved a small plastic rectangle into his hand. "Thank you."

"It's part of my phone plan, actually since it was one of those neat two-line, one-line price deals, so you don't even have to worry about paying for anything or seeing a bill. Just use it." She told him and sighed as Lyrius simply placed it back in her hand. "Really, Lyrius, just use the thing."

"Mommy even put in her number in it! And mine, too!" A small blonde head poked her head out from behind the woman's legs with a grin. "So now I can call you whenever I want, Mister Stormcloud!"

Lyrius cast a glance down that the small version of the woman who had given him the phone. "You are too young to have a phone. Or need one."

"Na-huh!" She stuck her tongue out at him. "_You're_ too young for a phone!"

The woman laughed, barely stifling it behind a hand. "Oh, Rachel...don't ever change." Giving her daughter a one armed-hug, she grinned at Lyrius. "Want to get McDonald's?"

"What reason do you have for picking that chain?" Lyrius blinked once as the woman held up handful of white at him.

"I have coupons!"

"Ah. What better enticement than that of a few cents less on a product you do not normally buy?"

The woman looked at him, making a 'tsking' noise. "They're coupons for chicken nuggets, that makes all the difference."

"Of course. How foolish of me."

TTTTTTT

"And then you have to use this pen thing to draw the bird back, see? And when you let go, it flies into the pigs' house and knocks them and makes them go poof!"

"I see." Lyrius couldn't quite actually see, given that Rachael was seated in his lap and was holding the kid tablet on her own lap so that her head blocked the screen she was focused on so intently. "And why are the birds angry?"

"'Cause the pigs stole their eggs!"

"A good a reason as any to be angry. What level are you at?"

"Only level ten...but I'm getting better! Mommy says so! In fact, she let me practice all the way during the car ride here!" Rachel preened. "I'mma get so good, I'll be the best! I bet she even lets me play on the way back, too!"

"I imagine so, especially since you are so quiet playing this game."

"Huh?" Rachel twisted enough so she could look up at him and blink cutely. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Nothing." Lyrius patted her head. "Simply an old man talking aloud."

"You're not old!" Rachel insisted. "You don't have gray in your hair like mommy!"

"Your mommy is not old, either. Perhaps her gray are, in fact, from a little girl getting into far too much trouble for her own good."

"Heeeeeyyyy!" Rachel protested with a pout. "I don't get into trouble! It just finds me, is all!"

"Perhaps." Lyrius allowed a nod. "Or perhaps you do things like climbing on the roof and trying to drive the car because you enjoy the faces your mommy makes when she finds out."

"It was only once!" The little girl huffed. "I bet mommy's even forgot about that one, too, Mister Stormcloud. So don't remind her! Or I'll get in trouble again!"

"It was that bad?" He lifted an eyebrow slightly.

"Wellllll..." Rachel's eyes darted back and forth as she drew out the word as slow as she possibly could. "Oh, look! Shiny man hair!"

"My hair does not shine, child. It's crystalline."

"It's still pretty! And shiny! I want hair like this!" Rachel grabbed a handful of a lock that had drifted over his shoulder and waved it at him to emphasis her point. "It's all soft, too!"

"Yes."

"I want your hair, Mister Stormcloud! Will you be my daddy so I can?"

This time, the eyebrow about jumped into his hairline. "I am quite sure that is not how hair works, Rachel."

"You're magic, though! If you were my daddy, you can make it happen." Rachel insisted stubbornly.

A tired sigh reached their ears as Rachel's mother, laying a tray of McDonald's on the table, sat down across from them. "Rachel, sweetie, we've been over this. Mister Stormcloud is not your daddy and he can't be your daddy."

"Why not?" Rachel shot her mother a pouting face. "Is it because you're older than he is and you think he won't like your gray hairs?"

The woman snorted with constrained laughter. "No, that's not it all, sweetie. Now put the Angry Birds away and sit down right. Its time for lunch."

"Ohh, lunch!" Rachel glanced down at her tablet, surprised that she still had it. "Ahh, my birds! Stupid pigs!"

Lyrius deftly plucked her form his lap and set her down on a third side of the table they were at, her mother taking the opportunity to sneakily pluck the tablet away as she pouted at him. "Making faces is unbecoming of a young lady, Rachel. And certainly won't help you eat your food."

"So what?" She puffed up her cheeks and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Then I believe I shall have to eat it for you." Lyrius told her as he pulled his fries and sandwich towards himself.

"Nooooooo, my nuggets!" Rachel yanked the box to her chest like it was a puppy and gave him a wary look before sneaking a hand into the box and yanking one out for a defiant bite. "See? Mine."

"Then you should eat them all before he decides he's hungry for them, Rachel." Her mother slid one of the tiny tubs of ketchup towards her. As her daughter dug into her food, she shot Lyrius a smile. "Thank you for watching her."

"It was not a problem, Francessa." Lyrius cut a neat section of slices with his knife before eating them. "Rachel is well-behaved."

"Yes, well, that's been kind of a long hard slog to reach." Francessa said wryly, shoving a straw into her soda cup. "I had a little streaker for a toddler and then a biter and hair-puller for a kindergartner."

"They started it!" Rachel protested around a mouthful of nugget and fry.

Francessa pushed a napkin out towards her daughter, who accepted it with a grimace while Lyrius asked. "Who are they?"

"All of them!" The little girl said as if this were most obvious thing in the world. "Janice and Greg and Tommy and Izzy and Mac and stuff! They say those mean things to the others, like Karen who can't walk right because she broke her leg funny and then I just see blue-"

"Red, sweetie." Francessa corrected without looking as she plucked a pickle off her sandwich

"-see red and I start yelling at them to stop and they don't and then I don't remember but there's hitting and stuff happening." Rachel finished and devour a nugget in celebration in getting all out in one breath.

"While it is noble to come to the defense of your friends, Rachel, escalating the conflict with violence isn't the correct solution." Lyrius speared some more fries on his fork.

Rachel blinked cutely at him.

"Hitting people only makes things worse." Francessa translated.

"Oooohhhh..." Rachel processed this thought. "But you and mommy hit people all the time! For your work!"

Lyrius flicked a glance at Francessa, who had the grace to look slightly sheepish. "Done a little moonlighting as a bouncer for one of my friend's dueling country clubs, is all. Patrons get rowdy."

"I see." Lyrius looked back at Rachel. "And what is it you think that I do that means I hit people?"

"Fight bad guys! Like a superhero!"

"Ah." The dark-haired man was silent for a moment. "Rachel, violence is the last thing you should ever do to try and help someone. If you aren't trained, you could wind up doing more damage to someone than you wanted or even hurting yourself badly."

"I'm learning! Mommy is teaching me!" Rachel nodded vigorously. "And she says when I'm older, you can teach me, too!"

"She's taken to sharp and pointy things." Francessa offered. "And I'm not that confident with my own to really teach her."

"Very well. Upon your tenth birthday, I will begin teaching you." Lyrius had moved onto his burger during the conversation, cutting it into smaller pieces like one would a steak.

"I'm already eight! That's two years away!" Rachel protested.

"I could make it your thirteenth birthday."

"Ten is good." Rachel said agreeably and glanced towards her mother. "I'm full, mommy. Can I go play?"

"You've barely finished your sandwich, Rachel."

"I'll save it for later! I wanna go play!"

"Alright, but I don't want to hear any complaints about eating it for dinner." Francessa warned and then gave off a amused sigh as her daughter had been off like a shot towards the playpen after the first word. Grabbing Rachel's half-eaten meal, she began sweeping it into the bag it had come in. "She knows her fries are going to get soggy if we have to reheat them..."

"It seems to be the least of her concerns." Lyrius finished his meal and wiped his mouth clean, before balling up his trash and tossing it into a nearby bin.

"So few of them at that age...I seem to recall being rather deeply concerned over the fact my mom couldn't find the Pokemon plushie that I wanted in any of the toy stores." Francessa gave her companion a curious look. "So what did eight-year-old concern themselves with a thousand years ago?"

"I do not recall, but I can guess that it was simply finding food and shelter so I did not starve or perish to the elements." Lyrius said. "Beyond that, I had no purpose until I met Iris."

"Yes, Lyrius." Francessa's expression softened. "But Iris isn't here anymore."

"Something I am well aware of." Lyrius' own face was calm and focused as ever. "But we have already discussed this at length. The arguments are as circular as my thoughts are."

"I know...so I thought I'd try something else this time. Something that helps people like us think more than just words." She smiled and produced a stack of Duel Monsters cards. "Warrior therapy, in some manner of the concept."

The lines of Lyrius' face softened, his eyes gaining a warm fierceness to them- closest thing to smile he probably possessed "Destroying the restaurant would set a bad example for Rachel, indeed."

"Sadly, that'd be the least of the resulting problems." Francessa swept the last few crumbs of the meal off the table and produced a standard playmat as Lyrius did the same. Spreading them out, she deftly shuffled her deck. "Think you'll be able to win this time?"

"We are currently tied, Francessa." Lyrius cut her deck as she passed it to him and took his back. A corner of his lips quirked upwards for a brief moment. "And you had a losing streak against Iris. I do believe she took great delight in relieving you of many of your possessions and favors."

"Never got that sweater back after losing it in that game of Duel Monsters...and that was my lucky one. The woman pursed her lips in frustration before smiling. "Still...I never get tired of beating you."

"Only when you are serious." Lyrius said as they both drew their opening hands, his eyes focusing on hers. "Are you?"

Francessa didn't back down from his gaze. "I'm always serious when it comes to my friends."

Lyrius didn't respond, instead grabbing a card from his hand. "I will summon Nitrogeddon from my hand in attack position." He slapped the card down, its picture showing velociraptor made out of wispy gas. "And then I'll use its effect." (1900/1200)

He placed a card in his graveyard before drawing another. "I can discard a -eddon monster to draw one card. And I shall place two of them face-down behind my monster."

Doing so, he flicked his dark eyes to Francessa. "End of turn."

"Draw." Francessa added the card to her hand and placed one on the mat before her, a smile on her face."I'll use one of the cards you drew for me- the field spell Garden of Valarian. And then I summon Beast Striker in attack mode and I'll use its effect to discard a card from my hand to summon a Moja from my deck." (1850/1200)

She picked up her deck, fanning it out before herself before grabbing the card she wanted and passing the deck to Lyrius to shuffle. "But Moja won't be on my field for long- the monster I discarded was King of Beasts and I can send Moja to the graveyard to summon it from the graveyard."

Moja was dropped into the graveyard and the new monster took its place- a hulking black-bodied monster with golden limbs and ram's head. "King of Beasts attacks Nitrogeddon." (2500/800)

Lyrius nodded and placed his monster in the graveyard, a deft slid of his hand flipping up his two set cards almost immediately afterwards. "Since you destroyed my monster, I will activate my two trap cards. Chemical Runoff lets me send two more -eddon monsters from my deck to my graveyard, while Toxicity will drain your monsters of my -eddon's attack points and destroy them if they become zero. I will also be able to draw one card for each monster that dies this way." (LLP: 7400)

"That's a strong combination, but my guard isn't down. Thanks to my Garden, I can once per turn select a Beast or Beast-Warrior and banish a card from my hand to render that monster immune to all of your card effects." She pulled a card from her hand and placed it outside the playmats carefully. "So King of Beasts remains just as strong as he ever was."

"Beast Striker succumbs to the poison, however and dies." Lyrius dropped his two selected cards for Chemical Runoff into his graveyard, shuffled his deck and then drew a single card as Francessa placed Beast Striker in the graveyard.

"Mmm." Francessa slid a pair of card into place behind her King of Beasts. "I set this and end my turn."

"Draw." Lyrius placed a spell card onto his field. "Bonding Agent is a continuous spell card that allows me to summon a Dragon monster so long as I have the corresponding components in my graveyard. Because I have Carboneddon and two Oxygeddon in the graveyard, I can summon Carddice Dragon from my deck."

His new monster showed a sinuous dragon faintly visible in a cloud of cold-looking cloud, the only true sign it was even there was the five diamond-shaped golden eyes arrayed in a star shape. (2500/2000)

"Carddice Dragon attacks King of Beasts, destroying them both." Both duelists picked their cards up and placed them in the graveyard, Lyrius rapidly spreading three of them back out on the field. "But since Carddice Dragon was destroyed, I can summon its components from the graveyard." (1000/600) (1800/600x2)

"Carbeddon attacks directly." Lyrius' didn't look surprised as Francessa's hand didn't move towards her set card. "Oxygeddon number one attacks directly." (FLP: 7000)

"I'll chain with Scapegoat, summoning four Goat Tokens to my field in defense position. " Francessa produced four quarters and slid them across her playing mat. "I assume you're going to attack with both Oxygeddons?"

"Correct." Lyrius nodded and she removed two quarters. "End of turn."

"Draw." Francessa did so and then picked up the card she had banished previously, flipping around in her hand to show Lyrius. "Card From A Different Dimension, so not only does it come back to my hand, but we each draw two more cards."

"Your favorite." Lyrius noted as he drew his cards. He didn't bother to glance at them, though, as he became aware of something else. The background noise of the restaurant had been dimming since they started playing the game and around them, the world slowed with it. But the moment Francessa had drawn her two extra cards, it had finally seemed to stop in mid-motion. The entire world frozen in an eternal moment.

Or, more simply, he and his companion were the ones who had slipped outside of time during the space between seconds.

Lyrius' dark eyes focused sharply on Francessa, who had been staring at him quietly since she had drawn. "Reveal yourself, whether you be deity or demon and leave my companion. Or I will do it for you."

"There isn't a need for threats, Lyrius." Francessa closed her eyes and shook her head. Her voice had gained a slight echoing lag to it, a dulcet male voice chasing after her normal one like a whisper. When she opened her eyes, they had become diluted with gold to become a rich, glowing amber. "I am here to bring no harm."

"You are..." Lyrius' narrowed his gaze. "Valarian."

"I see Francessa's words concerning your astuteness are true." Valarian murmured, tilting his head slightly as Lyrius' glare didn't lessen in intensity. "I will bring no harm to you or Francessa. Nor am I possessing her. She has agreed to lend me her body for this exchange."

"If you have words to speak, deity, then speak them yourself before me or not at all." Lyrius said coolly.

"Is that not what I am doing now?"

"I have not the patience nor the desire to truck in riddles and bandy words with the likes of the divine." The man's cold tone dropped a few more degrees as he spoke. "So speak plainly and curtly, else I shall reach across this table and rip you from Francessa like I would weed a garden."

Francessa/Valarian regarded him for a few long seconds, then the glow in her eyes faded and her face relaxed. "Lyrius, I know this is sudden, but you can trust Valarian. And you need to hear what he has to say."

Lyrius folded his arms.

"He can't appear to you any other way- you are not one of his followers and he has little power left enough as it is. This is the only way and what he's doing is dangerous as it is-he's risking the attention of other, more powerful deities and I don't think any of it will be good." Francessa told him patiently. "You know well as well as I do that gods don't go to these kinds of measures without a good reason."

The man's gaze bored into Francessa's own and she knew he was digging for any hint that she was lying or being manipulated or tricked by something posing to be Valarian. He may not have been the Sword of St. Cuthbert anymore, but giving up a title didn't mean you gave up the skills you had learned with it.

Finally, he gave a single, curt nod. "Then speak, Valarian. I will listen."

Francessa gave him a thankful smile, then closed her eyes. When they opened again, they were once again amber and the lines of her face altered subtly to give her a more regal, powerful appearance. "Thank you, Lyrius Stormcloud."

The deity held up their hand of cards. "May we continue playing as we talk? This game is part of how I am keeping us from being overheard."

"And because I have technically challenged a deity to combat, the winner may ask a boon of the loser. So should you defeat me, you would be able to compel me towards whatever crisis you are about to inform of." Lyrius said without hesitation. "If I win, then I am sure you will angle whatever I ask you to do the same regardless."

"It is an unnecessary by-product of the circumstances, not of my intent." Valarian frowned slightly. "Please believe that."

Lyrius was silent for another long gaze, then nodded curtly again.

"Thank you. Now then..." Valarian held out a hand gently and the playing field glowed, the quarters becoming actual goat tokens while a small forest rose up around his playmat due to the field spell in play. Meanwhile, Lyrius' Carboneddon pulled itself free of its card and roared as threateningly as a thumb-sized dinosaur could while the two Oxygeddon were simply two dinosaur-shaped masses of swirling green air. "I shall continue my turn."

His hand glowed and one of the set cards flipped itself over. "The trap card Spiritual Earth Art-Kurogane lets me tribute an Earth monster to summon one of level four or below from my graveyard. So begone, little sheep and give way to my Beast Striker!"

One of the goat tokens bleated in agreement, sinking into the ground in a pool of light and in its place arose an ape-like creature with tusks. It rumbled out aggressively at the dinosaurs across the wield and gripped its mighty hammer.

"Then, I shall use my monster's effect and discard a card-" He dropped a monster into the graveyard. "To summon out another Moja."

Beast Striker slammed its hammer on the ground in the open space next to it and as the hammer lifted, a blob of darkness appeared there. It sprouted a gold mask face and small horns. (100/100)

Lyrius watched as Moja began to grow, swelling out until it was seven inches tall and morphing into the powerful King of Beasts that had been sleeping in Valarian's graveyard. (2500/1800)

"I discard Chain Dog to summon Egotistical Ape from my hand and in doing, am able to give Egotistical Ape Chain Dog's level of four to make a total of nine. Combined with the level one goat token I have, there are enough stars for my to Synchro Summon a level monster!" Valarian smiled lightly as he dropped another card into the graveyard.

On the field, the remaining goat token let out a 'Baaaa!' of surprise as a cackling ape of purple shadows appeared behind it and pulled it into the woods. _"My child of the wilds, stand firm against all who would defile our home! Synchro Summon! Leoh, Keeper of the Sacred Tree!" _

A growl filled the air as a massive monster lumbered out of the woods, a large tiger covered in heavy white bark armor and a mane of sharp petals. "Attack and destroy Carboneddon." (3100/1900)

The Synchro lunged forwards, slashing the small dinosaur apart with a single slash of its paws while King of Beasts simply stampeded over one of the Oxygeddon. (LLP: 7400-5300-4600)

Valarian watched his two monsters made their way back to his field, pleased. "I end my turn."

"Draw." Lyrius added the card to his hand, glancing at them. "Speak, god. Why must you seek me out?"

"To correct a mistake with destiny."

Lyrius regarded the god with a lifted eyebrow. "Destiny has little to do with me. Mine was intertwined with Iris, whether she was to be Shadow Queen or find redemption. She is gone and my path is as uncertain and vague as anyone's."

"You are wrong, Lyrius." Valarian shook his head. "When you helped the Shadow Queen a thousand years ago, it was an event none thought possible. Destiny had meant for you to rise from the ashes of that town as a hero...and you did, to the one who set the fire."

Lyrius' expression didn't change, but his eyes darkened slightly. "Are you saying destiny made her attack that town simply to encourage me."

"Nothing so callous. Fate does not force its path upon any, merely takes advantage of presented opportunities and opens the door...it is up to each person to decide to walk through it." Valarian smiled softly. "You, however, slammed the door shut and jumped out the window."

"Hrrn. Such a modern colloquialism ill suits an ancient being as yourself, Valarian." Lyrius pulled a card from his hand. "I activate Trade-In, discarding a level eight monster to draw two cards."

Doing so, he slid another continuous spell card into play. "Centrifuge lets me destroy a Dragon in my hand and add the components listed upon it from my deck to my hand." A card in his hand exploded, the fragments falling neatly into the graveyard. A second later, three wisps of light flowed from his deck and formed into three fresh cards in his hand.

He held up Card Destruction. "Now we both discard our hands and draw the same number."

"I will chain with Garden of Valarian's effect, banishing a card from my hand to render my King of Beasts immune to your card effects." Valarian once again set aside Card of Different Dimension away from the playing mats. Then he and Lyrius complied with the latter's spell, discarding and drawing.

Lyrius tapped his Bonding Agent spell card and it began to glow. "As I have two Nitrogeddon and an Oxygeddon in my graveyard, I may use my card to summon Nitrous Dragon from my deck."

Wisps of gas swirled to life on his field, combing into a shimmering two-headed dragon. It gave of a hissing laugh, its heads twining around one another as they stuck out forked tongues. "I will activate the continuous spell card Covalent Bonds and then Nitrous Dragon will attack King of Beasts." (2500/2000)

"Hmmm..." Valarian watched as the miniature dragon surged forth and enveloped his beast in its gaseous form, the King of Beast snorting and snarling at something it could not attack. "You used this trick earlier in the duel...but..."

The King of Beast roared loudly, scattering the mists away as effectively as the wind. "My remaining set card is Beast King's Roar, rendering my beast immune to death by battle and dealing your own monster's attack as damage to you." (LLP: 4600-2100)

"Yes, but Nitrous Dragon's own powers now activate. First, its components are summoned from the graveyard." Wind swirled on Lyrius' field, resolving into a pair of Nitrogeddons and an Oxygeddon. "And Nitrous Dragon negates your monster's powers, laughter turning their defenses to nothing."

Indeed, the two beasts were letting out gruff noises that one could assume was their version of chortling, Leoh collapsing to its haunches as it laughed while King of Beasts slumped to the ground, shaking with mirth.

"And my Covalent Bonds ares grants all -eddon monsters three hundred points to both stats for all -eddon monsters in play." His monster's swirled larger and their eyes gained a red glow. (1900-2800x2) (1800-2700)

A Nitrogeddon and Oxygeddon surged forth, clawing Leoh apart and grinding King of Beasts into dust with hammering winds while the remaining Nitrogeddon darted between them and breathed out a icy mist into Valarian's face. (VLP: 4800)

Valarian waved the attack away. "Very impressive. You are indeed good at this game."

"Yes." Lyrius slapped a set card down behind his monsters. "End of turn."

"Draw." Valarian did so and picked up Card From A Different Dimension, both players drawing two cards. "I shall normal summon Lock Cat from my hand." With a soft 'mew!', a snow white cat appeared in front of him, a lock dangling from its collar. (1200/1000)

There was a chirp and a tiny mouse appeared alongside the cat, a key dangling from its collar. "Thanks to Lock Cat's effect, I can summon Key Mouse from my graveyard though it has its effect negated."

"And you discarded Chain Dog earlier..." Lyrius narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Correct. And because I have two Beast-type monsters, I can special summon that monster from the graveyard." With a bark, a white dog wrapped in chains appeared alongside its comrades. "And now I'll tune all three of my monsters together."

The three monsters vanished into the forest in unison. "_Heed my call, child and with the fury of the storm, show the power of those who ride the lightning! Synchro Summon! Lightning Tricorn!" _

There was a small flash of light and a clap of thunder and then standing on the table proudly was the Synchro Monster. A blue mane crackled with unspent power, gold armor glittered in the timeless light and it gazed regally out at the opposing monsters. (2800/2000)

A rustling came from the forest and Lyrius narrowed his eyes slightly as a woman strode out of the dense foliage. Clad lean armor, a powerful sword in her hand and green eyes that were both beautiful and wild. "Since you control a light Beast-type, you can summon Warrior Maiden of the Storm from your hand without tribute." (2600/2000)

"Yes and now I will activate a card I only use if she is in play- Summon of Thunder. This lets me summon one of the three specific 'corn' monsters from the Extra Deck." There was another flash of light and this time, a electric-blue unicorn decorated in yellow lightning bolts appeared and pawed at the ground eagerly. "However, it is only for this turn." (2200/1800)

Valarian smiled and pulled a final card from his hand. "But it is all that is needed. I equip Thunder Unicorn with United We Stand, raising its power by eight hundred for every monster I control." The markings on the Unicorn glowed and lightning crackled around it. (2200/1800-4600/4200)

"And then its own effect, reducing the attack of one your Nitrogeddon by five hundred for each of my monsters!" Lightning surged along the Unicorn's body, blasting out of its horn and striking the dinosaur. It roared and reeled in sudden tangible pain and collapsed, shuddering as its body sparked. (2800-1300)

"I activate the trap Attack Guidance Armor." Lyrius didn't blink as he flipped the card and the Warrior Maiden staggered when demonic looking armor appeared around her. "This forces your monster to battle the Warrior Maiden."

"And because she isn't a Beast, I cannot use my Garden to protect her..." Valarian watched as Thunder Unicorn suddenly wheeled about and slammed its supercharged horn into the Maiden, an explosion engulfing the field and rocking the trees of the forest. "And her own effect deals me two thousand damage because she was special summoned...a grand total of four thousand damage." (VLP: 800)

"Why are you insistent upon me, Valarian? Even if I spat in destiny's fate by choosing to join Iris rather than turn my sword on her, a thousand years is a long time to attempt to correct it." Lyrius folded his arms, legs cross at the knee as he focused his attention on the god.

"But I did attempt to correct it. Do you think it happenstance that the Unicorn Maiden constantly sought you out during the war? True, you both love battle and crossing swords with strong opponents, but she also did so at my behest. I hoped to turn you to our side." The deity smiled forlornly. "A mistake was made in that, both in underestimating your loyalty and your sense of duty."

"What do you mean? Speak clearly." Lyrius' eyes narrowed.

"A threat had been growing and I hoped to combat it with the Three Heroes, but your sword at their side could have turned a chance of victory into certainty. Though I may not know the future, it appeared to me at the time that destiny was error and you should have been sworn to me alongside the Maiden. But this new threat did something I did not expect, even as the Three Heroes marshaled allies to mount a campaign against you. It challenged you and the Shadow Queen head-on."

"Many did so, whether they served a rival Demon Lord seeking to kill Graz'zzt's proxy or simply desiring power."

"Yes and this enemy was no different. Perhaps destiny sought to fix the mistake by having them fight you anyway or so I thought...it appeared this new threat would be defeated by a greater evil and have no chance to become something even worse than you and the Shadow Queen. With this in mind, I did not intervene as I should have and kept the Maiden away, though she was of the 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' mind towards this threat..."

"It is rarely a place or a necessity for the gods to deign their intervention in the goings of the world and mortals." Lyrius' face darkened. "So why do you regret not doing so, god? I was your enemy-any attempt that harmed me was to your benefit."

"It is not that simple. This threat was stronger than any could have anticipated. It matched you and Iris together and was just as relentless. And they targeted your weaknesses ruthlessly." The god's amber eyes flashed slightly. "You know of the enemy of which I speak."

The darkened of Lyrius' face was frosty, his word as bitter as a winter cold snap. "Yes."

"He took your most precious treasure from you and in doing so, ensured that you could only delay him, not destroy him. But he is coming back, Lyrius..."

Anyone who was not familiar with Lyrius wouldn't have noticed the change the words wrought in him, but Valarian knew him through Francessa and could see how his hand tightened ever-so-slightly on his cards, his eyes darkening even further and almost flashing with inner light.

But his frosty voice was still as controlled as ever. "And why does this matter interest you, Valarian?"

"It was her last wish. My faithful servant committed herself to defeating the enemy's machinations after your defeat. But she could not finish him off completely. After her death, I honored her last request ," Valarian's face saddened, something that dug twice as hard at Lyrius as it coming from the face of his friend. "And I failed."

"Even gods are not perfect." Lyrius' curt words were edged in steel.

"That is why I am here. I did not intervene when I could have a thousand years ago and I could not fulfill the promise I made. As my power wanes..." Valarian's smile was sorrowful. "I find myself regretting."

"You are dying." Lyrius said without preamble."

"In a manner of word. My power diminishes year by year and I know at one point, I will lose myself entirely as belief fades into myth and legend." The god's sad smile faded, replaced by a firm look. "Before that happens, I will do what I can."

Lyrius studied the god for a long, tense moment. "You intend to give me power."

"As best I can. You are not of my faithful and what I can bestow is limited..and it will draw the ire of the other gods, to give something for nothing to a mortal is something that has never worked out well." Valarian met Lyrius' eyes. "But I will entrust unto you a blessing, Lyrius Stormcloud. So that you may do what I could not...and for that, I am deeply sorry."

"...an apology from a god is a treasure with endless value. I acknowledge it." Lyrius relaxed a few centimeters. He glanced down at the playing field, his three monsters waiting silently for his turn to start. "Shall we continue?"

"No, there is no need." Valarian held out his hand and the field faded away back into a simple table and Duel Monsters cards. "Our discussion is nearly over. But my gift may also come with a warning. Visions of what might be."

"And they are?"

Valarian suddenly glanced to the side, staring at something only he could see. "Our time together is up..."

It was true. Lyrius could see people beginning to move slowly, a low hum of background noise building back up.

He swept his cards together and re-folded the playing mat and in doing so, found himself off-guard for one of the rare times of his life. Enough so that he couldn't react as one of Francessa's hands grabbed his chin and pulled his head up, lips crashing firmly into his.

A warm, soft feeling spread from the point of contact and there was brief moment where all of him itched before fading pleasantly away as a voice whispered in the back of his mind.

_In the wild places of the world, Valarian's children will walk at your side..._

Then the tingle and voice faded, leaving Lyrius to gaze politely as Francessa leapt back into her seat as the world around them resumed its natural ebb and flow.

"Oh gods, I didn't expect him...I mean...why would...ahhh...you...Lyrius, I'm sorry!" She flushed red and ran a hand through her hair, trying to regain her composure.

"It is not a problem. In old days, deals, bargains and promises were sealed with kisses as the intimacy was to convey sincerity." Lyrius politely waved the incident away. "And being possessed by a deity renders you not at fault."

"Yes, right. Of course." Francessa settled herself with a breathing exercise Lyrius remembered teaching her a few years ago. The moment's embarrassment faded to be quickly replaced by a tight sorrow. "Lyrius..."

"You could not have known the past if I did not choose to speak to of it to you." Lyrius shook his head slightly.

Francessa was silent for a long minute, sliding her gaze away from Lyrius to watch her own daughter laughing and racing around the play area. Then she nodded to herself about something and turned to look back at her friend. "Do you know what you are going to do next?"

"No."

"Then let me help you anyway I can. Whatever you do or wherever you go. And..." She produced the phone from earlier, taking his hand and folding his fingers around it tightly. "It's dangerous to go alone. Take this."

He glanced at it and then her. Then nodded and slid the slender device into his shirt pocket. "Thank you, Francessa. Now, please tell me about the vision Valarian said you experienced when he spoke to you..."

TTTTTT

Lyrius wandered back towards his home, Francessa's words still echoing in his mind. There was no mistaking the conviction or certainty in them as she had spoke of her dream.

(_A shadow that devours its source, yet remains...an empty throne in the desert, surrounded only by countless blades like they were gravestones...four crystals filled with light that slowly die away...a beautiful queen of white and silver who is transformed into a dark version of herself with a smile, wreaked in the stench of blood...)_

All of them were rather vague symbols and he found himself almost amused by the entire thing. If it weren't for Francessa's words lending them credibility, he might have never cared about them at all. As it was, he scarcely did now. (_If Valarian or St. Cuthbert or whatever deity must fight this oncoming evil, why do they not choose from their legions of warriors or followers. Why would Valarian seek to apologize to me for failing to defeat an enemy that I knew a thousand years ago? They would not matter now. And yet Valarian risks speaking through a mortal who is not of his faithful to give me a blessing. Why?)_

"Perhaps it is the same reason that I choose those like you to act through, Lyrius." A languid voice from a tree nearby spoke up. "Mercenaries tend to be expendable, after all."

Lyrius stopped walking and spared a glance up at the tree

"Now you're finding it hard to come up anything that refutes that point. And are questioning just how much you actually value yourself and your own life." The voice continued. "Your surface thoughts are an open book to me."

Lyrius' eyes narrowed slightly.

"Oh, very good. Now they're still a book, just in a language I can't read." The tree rustled and a sleek white cat jumped out, landing neatly on the wall. He peered down at Lyrius. "A good evening to you, Queen's Shadow."

"Librarian." Lyrius greeted politely.

"The world is stirring, Lyrius and great powers young and old are taking notice." The cat said simply, settling on his haunches. "Sides are being taken, unknowingly or not. Alliances formed, bargains struck and more than a few back-room deals being sealed with a knife the back."

"Such are the games the gods play, Librarian. Since their creation until the ends of time, it will ever be thus."

Lyrius told him. "Why have you approached me this night? Are you, too, a messenger from on high?"

"In this instance, I speak not for heaven or hell, but for myself alone. You and Iris are my friends and I would not see harm come to you. Nor see used as a pawn." Adrian said.

One of Lyrius' eyebrows rose slightly. "So you would promote me, yet still use me as a piece. Perhaps a bishop or knight."

Adrian laughed, the sound kind of creepy coming out of such a small animal. "Not me, Lyrius. I prefer a more direct approach to solving my problems. But there are others who do not and you are a piece to be prized."

The cat's tail swished as he spoke. "You have the potential to change the world with your actions or inaction. A thousand years ago, you were simply one among many but the age of myths and legends has faded away. But you remain in this new age and to have one such as you on any side in the oncoming conflict is a great boon."

"So I am to be fought over by gods and devils?" Lyrius said dryly. "How flattering."

"Courted, more likely, though the means may very. Bargains, offers, seduction, battle...I'm sure nothing will be off the table when it comes to you. Though even I don't know why Valarian felt the need to warn you as he did or give you that blessing beyond an act of generous kindness. Something that is exceedingly rare for a god. It is most curious, though not quite as much as you." The cat's ear twitched, as if in amusement. "You are rather important at the moment, too."

"What could be so important or dangerous that any of the sides of a conflict are desperate to have me?"

"Apotheoses."

Lyrius actually started slightly, then bristled slightly before narrowing his eyes. "Explain."

"A plan is motion, a plan a thousand years in the making that will shift the balance of power amongst the ranks of the divine if it succeeds. It is to the point that both heaven and hell are making plans to deal with it if it succeeds and to ensure it fails, simply because they know the other side is doing the same. Ultimately, I feel that all these plans are simply going to cancel each other out and the apotheoses will happen."

Adrian's violet eyes fixed sharply on Lyrius. "And this is not one man with a mad ambition. This is a plan that cause the rise of an entire new pantheon of deities. If it happens, all-out war between the divine will be inevitable."

"And because I have no side, I am both potential asset and threat. Even to the side that wishes to raise themselves up to be gods." Lyrius folded his arms. "And you, Adrian the Librarian? Which side do you serve?"

"Yours." Adrian chuckled at the surprise flickering across Lyrius' eyes. "If you are to fight this threat, then I would have you do it of your own will. And in doing so, find yourself and your own dreams like you should have one thousand years ago."

Lyrius' lip twitched downwards into a slight frown. "You speak as if you already know what will happen."

"Do I? What an interesting thought, that I would know the future. Would make winning the lottery all that much easier." Adrian scratched behind his ear. "All I know that will happen, my friend, is that no matter how these coming events play out, the world will never be the same."

His eyes locked with Lyrius' again, a smirk making his whiskers twitch. "And, I think...the man who has nothing will find everything he didn't know he wanted."

With that, the cat jumped back into the tree and vanished from view.

TTTTTTT

When Lyrius entered his apartment, he knew should have been surprised to find a person sitting at his table with the lights on and helping themselves to a piece of the pie he had had in the fridge. But after seeing who it was, he figured it should have been rather expected.

"You realize you have nothing worth stealing, right?" Judy LaBaron cut another bite of free with the side her fork as she gave him a reproving look. "I'm actually disappointed, you know. There's not even some ordinary -looking trinket lying around that is actually a magical artifact that could doom the world."

"I tend to destroy those when I encounter them." Lyrius informed her as he shut the door behind him. "And my art supplies?"

"Very high-end, but unless you know what they are, they're not much more to water colors and coloring books to a common thief." Judy pointed out and took another bite of pie. "This is delicious. Did you bake it yourself?"

"Yes." Lyrius crossed the room and stood across the table from. "I assume you are here for the apology."

"Mmm...Jalal did mention you wanted to do that, yeah." Judy licked her fork clean and shrugged before digging in again. "I honestly don't see the point, but if it'll make you feel better, you can. In fact, I'll preempt you and say I accept your sincere and eloquently worded apology."

There a beat of silence, Lyrius simply regarding her with his standard calm blankness and Judy working hard at polishing off the pie.

"Why do you not wish to hear it?"

"Well, in one regard, you haven't anything to apologize for. What happened to me wasn't anything you could have predicted and is squarely on Chapelwhite's shoulders." Judy emphasized her point with a wave of her fork. "Yeah, no one quite expected him to go all well-intentioned extremist, so he had us all fooled."

"And the other regards?"

"You don't need to say anything...because I can _feel_ it." Judy, having finished her pie, rested her hands on the table and gazed at him levelly.

"Feel it." Lyrius repeated with a slight eyebrow lift. "You are suggesting that due to that experiment, our souls are linked in some fashion?"

"I don't suggest things I know, Lyrius. At first, I thought it was just some kind of side effect, but after the last couple of days, I am sure of it." Her slitted pupils narrowed a bit. "We are sharing our souls."

"I have not felt anything different in the last four days at all." Lyrius said. "I would not dismiss the possibility out of hand, but it appears to be an unlikely-"

"_Malthenas." _Judy didn't seem surprised as the word cut Lyrius short. "That was your pet name for Iris, wasn't it? And there's no way I could know it, but I do. I have been having dreams, Lyrius. Dreams of raging battles, a knight and his queen and a live shrouded in blood and darkness. Your life."

Lyrius was silent for a few seconds. "And I did not notice as I do not sleep, so there was no time to dream."

"Probably right." The half-dragon leaned back in her chair. "Where have you been all day, anyway?"

"I went out to eat with a friend, dueled a god and was given a blessing by said god and spoke to a talking cat. Both of whom warned me an evil from the past is coming back and though I have no inclination to get involved, outside forces are going to force my hand on the matter." Lyrius said briskly, sweeping her now empty dishes off the table and moving to rinse them under the faucet. "As the saying goes, just another Tuesday for me. That just so happens to be on a Wednesday."

"Heh. Ill buy that for a dollar." Judy smiled a bit, leaning her cheek on her hand. "To be honest, Lyrius, it sounds like you have the makings of an epic adventure coming your. All the old stories start with the vague warnings and hints at looming evil, after all."

"In some of those stories, Iris and I _were_ the looming evil. But you are right." Lyrius had moved on to drying the dishes. "It is better than doing nothing and sitting idle, to say the least."

"Right..." Judy trailed off a bit, her eyes worried before it vanished into another smile. "Hey, before you go all pragmatist and run out to head of this oncoming threat, there's some personal business you need to take care of first."

"And that is?" Lyrius returned the cleaned dishes to the cupboards and turned back to face, unable to keep the surprise off his face. "_Oblivion..._"

"Well, the pieces, anyway." Judy lay the gold-filigree covered hilt and two pieces of the broken blade on the table gently. "The clean-up crew in Chapelwhite's lab found them just before I left. We made an attempt at trying to fix it, but Chapelwhite was right in the regard. _Oblivion_ is beyond any mortal ken to be ale to repair."

"Of course...it was wholly unique process. Iris and I could not even attempt to replicate it..." Lyrius approached the table, carefully picking up a piece of the blade. Once with sleek edges and a black so rich it seemed to negate the light, the material now had warped edges and the rest of it was sloughed badly- as if someone had frozen ripples of water across its surface. "Why did Chapelwhite not take it with him?"

"Maybe he didn't think it would be worth anything if he didn't find the all the pieces. But when we find him, you can ask him. Jalal's already put the word out and sent a team to track him down. There isn't much of anywhere he can hide anymore." Judy nodded firmly, silver hair swishing with the action.

Lyrius nodded back absently, running his hand over the blade and tilting it carefully to peer at his reflection. "Thank you, Judy."

"Do you want to bury it?"

He glanced at her.

"Again, I mean. On Arcadia. With Iris' grave." Judy explained sheepishly. "That's why you did it the first time, right? So you could get some closure on that part of your life?"

"Yes...you are right...and yes, I would like to bury it with her properly again. I cannot use it as a weapon ,after all." Lyrius replaced the piece on the table. "As you said, closure."

"Excellent. We can leave tomorrow." Judy smiled, revealing her new fangs. She continued to smile as Lyrius lifted an eyebrow at her. "Think about it, Lyrius. You're a clever man."

"You want to learn more about bonded souls and the best way to do that is travel with me so I may explain whatever dreams you have as well as anything else necessary." Lyrius told her.

"And?" Judy made an expectant gesture.

"You want me to treat it as a date as a way to apologize to you for the whole incident in a manner that we're both satisfied with." It sounded like it was taking Lyrius supreme effort not to sigh throughout the entire sentence.

"Yes, yes and yes." Judy was still smiling. "I'm off the active Shadowchaser roster for the next month or so while I heal and cope, according to Jalal. So why not, right? Right."

Lyrius merely nodded in resigned fashion, his attention still mostly focused on his broken sword.

"Okay then. Since you don't sleep, I'll take the bed. Don't worry, I already packed what I need. Thanks for the pie. I'll cook breakfast to make up for it." Judy covered a small, oddly cute yawn and began moving towards the bedroom. "See in the morning."

"You will." Lyrius confirmed and watched her go. Once she had, he continued to stare at the sword, then glanced once or twice towards the direction Judy had vanished.

He gave it a moment or two of deliberation, then pulled his easel and art supplies close to the table. Setting himself comfortable with palette and brush in hand, he began to paint.

TTTTTTT

ORIGINAL CARDS:

_Lyrius_

_Nitrogeddon  
>FIRE<br>4 star_

Dinosaur/Effect  
>19001200  
>Effect: Once per turn, you can discard one -eddon monster from your hand. Draw 1 card.<p>

Carddice Dragon  
>FIRE<br>8 stars  
>DragonEffect  
>25002000  
>Effect: This card may not be Normal Summoned or Set. This card must first be Special Summoned by the effecting of Chemical Bondings. When a monster battles with this card, that monster must battle with its original ATK or DEF- card effects that would modify that monster's ATK or DEF cannot be activated. When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, you may Special Summon two 'Oxygeddon' and one 'Carboneddon' from your graveyard.<p>

Nitrous Dragon  
>WIND<br>8 stars  
>DragonEffect  
>25002000  
>Effect: This card may not be Normal Summoned or Set. This card must first be Special Summoned by the effect of Chemical Bondings. When this card is destroyed, switch all of your opponent's face up monsters to Defense Position and negate their effects. (Including effects that activate in the graveyard). When this card is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, you may Special Summon two 'Nitrogeddon' and one 'Oxygeddon' from your graveyard.<p>

Bonding Agent  
>Continuous Spell Card<br>Effect: Once per turn, you may select one 'Dragon' monster in your Hand, Deck or Graveyard and if the appropriate -eddon monsters listed on the selected 'Dragon' monster are in your Graveyard, you may Special Summon the selected Dragon monster, ignoring its Summoning Conditions. During the turn you use this effect, you may not Normal Summon or Set.

Convalent Bonds

Continuous Spell Card  
>Effect: Increase the ATK and DEF of all face-up -eddon monsters you control for each face-up -eddon monster on the field.<p>

Centrifuge  
>Effect: Destroy one 'Dragon' monster in your hand and instead of Special Summoning the listed -eddon monsters, add the same monsters from your Deck to your Hand.<p>

Chemical Runoff  
>Trap Card<br>Effect: Activate when -eddon monster you control is destroyed. Send two -eddon monsters from your Deck to the Graveyard.

Toxicity  
>Trap Card<br>Effect: Activate when an -eddon monster you control is destroyed. Reduce the ATK of all face-up monsters your opponent controls by the ATK of the destroyed -eddon monster. If the ATK of your opponent's monster(s) is reduced to zero, destroy that monster. Draw 1 card for each monster destroyed by this effect.

_Francessa_

Garden of Valarian  
>Field Spell Card<br>Effect: Once per turn (during either player's turn), you may banish one card from your hand face-up, then select one Beast- or Beast-Warrior-type monster you control. Until the End Phase of this turn, the selected monster is unaffected by your opponent's targeting card effects and cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects.

Beast King's Roar  
>Normal Trap Card<br>Effect: Activate when a Beast-type monster with 'King' in its name that you control is attacked. The attacked monster cannot be destroyed in battle (Damage is still calculated). Then, inflict damage to your opponent's life points equal to the ATK of the attacking monster. You may only activate one 'Beast King's Roar' per turn.

Summon of Thunder  
>Normal Spell Card<br>Effect: You may only activate this card if you control a face-up 'Warrior Maiden of the Storm'. Select one Lightning Tricorn, Voltic Bicorn or Thunder Unicorn from your Extra Deck and Special Summon it. (This counts as a Synchro Summon). During the End Phase of this turn, destroy the monster summoned by this effect.

_And for your enjoyment, a deck profile by the ever-awesome Scarlet Weather_

**Deck Name: **"Unparalleled Duel Theorem"

**Player:**Lyrius Stormcloud.

This is Lyrius's current deck, and his third in a line of replacements for the deck he last used during his brief return as the champion of the Shadow Queen. Having traded in his old deck of knights and champions, he has instead moved into the realm of a fusion and effect-link based group of cards focused on the '-eddon' monsters. These chemical-based dinosaurs have a strong 'scientific' aesthetic he has specifically latched to in order to distance himself from his old, more 'occult' deck concepts. Lyrius's major focus in playing the deck is to combine his cards into powerful three-or-more monster combined forms, then using them to rule the battlefield. Is this the new form of the former Champion, or simply another stepping stone along the way?


End file.
